EPA announces Fall River will receive $56,000 in grant money for green initiatives

FALL RIVER — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that the city was one of just 14 communities around the country to be awarded part of an $860,000 grant to help create green infrastructure that will aid in storm water protection to Mt. Hope Bay.

The announcement was made in at Government Center at an event attended by both federal and local EPA officials.

The city’s award of $56,000 will fund the design of a pilot program in the South End to utilize tree-filter systems aimed at addressing sewer overflow and storm-water runoff.

“Today’s announcement is focused on ways to use green infrastructure to improve our quality of life,” Mayor Will Flanagan said. “The city’s approach is to maintain healthy waterways, provide multiple benefits and also to support sustainability.”

The grant application was submitted by Terrance Sullivan, administrator of public utilities, who said the pilot project will be located in the lower Birch Street area, including Slade, Dwelly, Birch, Bay and Bowen streets, where the combined sewer overflow tunnel is located.

Twelve tree-inlet catch basin boxes will be designed in those locations to handle rainwater runoff, Sullivan said.

“The trees will absorb a lot of the water, clean the water and reduce the volume that heads to Mt. Hope Bay, producing a better quality of water,” Sullivan said.

Through grant, the city will plan and design the tree boxes and review the potential of installing over 100 rain barrels on private properties, with the possibility of providing those residents with a credit on their storm-water fee, Sullivan said.

Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for the EPA, said that, like Fall River, communities across the country are recognizing the value of their water resources and how planting trees, and putting in rain barrels and rain gardens can help reduce storm-water pollution. They also make communities nicer for their residents and encourage economic development, she said.

Other recipients of the grant funding include Santa Monica, California; Denver, Colorado, and a small community in New Mexico, Stoner said.

“There’s a lot of green infrastructure across the country,” Stoner said.

Curt Spalding, the EPA's regional administrator, said storm water is a big problem in New England. It’s becoming a bigger problem with recent extreme rain events, he said.

“These are big problems that cause flooding and cause water-quality problems,” Spalding said. “So by doing this, by taking a proactive approach, putting the water back in the ground, the city is doing what nature told us to do with the water and keep it recycling so it won’t flood homes and our waterways.”

Spalding said the grant represents to the city a major green investment in an area of the region that needs this type of investment.